and she was, moreover, curious to see the castle
of Casa-Real where her mother had passed her childhood, and the city of
Granada, the cradle of the de Solis family. She left Douai, consigning
the care of the house to Martha, Josette, and Lemulquinier. Balthazar,
to whom Marguerite had proposed a journey into Spain, declined to
accompany her on the ground of his advanced age; but certain experiments
which he had long meditated, and to which he now trusted for the
realization of his hopes were the real reason of his refusal.

The Comte and Comtesse de Solis y Nourho were detained in Spain longer
than they intended. Marguerite gave birth to a son. It was not until the
middle of 1830 that they reached Cadiz, intending to embark for Italy
on their way back to France. There, however, they received a letter from
Felicie conveying disastrous news. Within a few months, their father
had completely ruined himself. Gabriel and Pierquin were obliged to
pay Lemulquinier a monthly stipend for the bare necessaries of the
household. The old valet had again sacrificed his little property to his
master. Balthazar was no longer willing to see any one, and would not
even admit his children to the house. Martha and Josette were dead. The
coachman, the cook, and the other servants had long been dismissed;
the horses and carriages were sold. Though Lemulquinier maintained the
utmost secrecy as to his master's proceedings, it was believed that the
thousand francs supplied by Gabriel and Pierquin were spent chiefly
on experiments. The small amount of provisions which the old valet
purchased in the town seemed to show that the two old men contented
themselves with the barest necessaries. To prevent the sale of the House
of Claes, Gabriel and Pierquin were paying the interest of the sums
which their father had again borrowed on it. None of his children had
the slightest influence upon the old man, who at seventy years of age
displayed extraordinary energy in bending everything to his will,
even in matters that were trivial. Gabriel, Conyncks, and Pierquin had
decided not to pay off his debts.

This letter changed all Marguerite's travelling plans, and she
immediately took the shortest road to Douai. Her new fortune and her
past savings enabled her to pay off Balthazar's debts; but she wished
to do more, she wished to obey her mother's last injunction and save him
from sinking dishonored to the grave. She alone could exercise enough
ascendancy ov